Redhawks still in position to make OVC tourney

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team is still in position to qualify for the Ohio Valley Conference tournament, which would be a nice achievement for the rebuilding Redhawks.

But Southeast missed an opportunity to solidify its postseason hopes in Jacksonville, Ala., on Thursday night.

The Redhawks were poised to pick up their second OVC road victory under first-year coach Dickey Nutt but let a late lead slip away.

A flurry of turnovers in the final few minutes allowed Jacksonville State to hang around, and the Gamecocks finally went ahead for good on a 3-pointer with six seconds left during a 58-55 win.

That excruciating defeat was followed by Saturday's 82-68 setback at Tennessee Tech, where Southeast lost for the 11th straight time. The program's last win in Cookeville, Tenn., came during its NCAA tournament season of 1999-2000.

Still, despite losing for the sixth time in its past seven contests, Southeast (6-15, 3-8) remained eighth in the 10-team OVC, two games ahead of ninth-place Tennessee State and 2 1/2 games clear of last-place Tennessee-Martin.

The Redhawks already have won at Tennessee State and beaten UT-Martin at home, with rematches to come later this season.

The top eight finishers qualify for the OVC tournament, an event Southeast has not participated in since the 2006-07 campaign.

After last year's winless OVC season and 3-27 overall record, few people outside the program thought the Redhawks would even be in this position. They were picked last in the conference's preseason poll.

But, with seven league games left -- five at home -- the Redhawks are poised to prove the prognosticators wrong.

Even after letting one slip away in Alabama.

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Despite all its troubles with injuries, youth and inexperience, the Southeast women's basketball team is just one game out of the important fourth-place position in the OVC.

The top four finishers get to play at home for the first round of the conference tournament.

On the other hand, the seventh-place Redhawks (7-13, 4-7) are also only one game away from being in the league basement.

That's how tight things are among the OVC's seven squads below the top three -- only two games separate fourth through last.

Like Southeast's men, the women play five of their final seven conference games at home.

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The signing period for college football begins Wednesday, and Southeast coach Tony Samuel will unveil the bulk of his latest recruiting class to the public during the Redhawks' annual signing day party at Port Cape.

Activities begin at 5:30 p.m. Samuel will speak and show highlights of the new recruits. Southeast's entire coaching staff will be on hand.

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The red-hot Notre Dame Regional High School boys basketball team notched an impressive win Tuesday, 71-62 at Scott County Central.

I knew the Bulldogs had really improved over the past several weeks, something I witnessed during a strong performance against Charleston.

And I did write last week that, if any area squad could threaten to beat the Braves, it was Notre Dame. Still, I didn't think the Bulldogs would pull it off.

Shows you what I know.

Scott County, which suffered just its second loss of the season and had a 15-game winning streak snapped, still should be a heavy favorite to win its second consecutive Class 1 state championship.

And, although only time will tell, Notre Dame continues to look more and more like a legitimate Class 4 contender.

Barring upsets, Notre Dame and Sikeston -- which has only lost to Notre Dame this season and has been mauling opponents -- should meet in the title game of what has become a terrific district tournament rivalry.

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It will be hard living up to last year's classic, but I'll bet Scott County and Sikeston still put on a pretty good show when they meet Feb. 10 at the Show Me Center.

After considerable speculation, details for the area boys basketball rematch were finalized last week.

Sikeston won last season's matchup 86-85 in front of a packed Show Me Center.

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A win by the Saints in Sunday's Super Bowl would be a neat story, but I have a hard time envisioning New Orleans' defense being able to slow down Peyton Manning enough to prevent the Colts from bringing back another championship to Indianapolis.

Of course, considering my sometimes feeble prognostications, maybe that means the Saints are the team to beat.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.